Kolkata hospital mulling separate spaces for transgenders

Kolkata, July 9: In a bid to mainstream members of the transgender community, officials at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital here are mulling separate health check-up spaces for them.

"The planning is at a very initial stage. Cabins will be designated for the third gender and special teams comprising counsellors, psychiatrists, nurses and other health personnel," Prabir Kr. Mukherjee, medical superintendent-cum-vice-principal, told.

The hospital also plans to have a facility for sex-alignment surgery.

There are 9,868 members of the third gender in rural Bengal according to the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011.

Recently, the state government roped in India's first transgender college principal Manabi Bandyopadhyay to work with its transgender development board in framing a new policy for the third gender in Bengal.

Bandopadhyay made headlines with her appointment as the head of Krishnagar Women's College in Bengal, a first for India.

While states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have transgender welfare boards, Bengal has the country's sole development board for them.

This year, varsities like Presidency University and Jadavpur University introduced separate criteria in admission forms for inclusion of the third gender.

At the national level, the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 was passed by the Rajya Sabha in April.

For the first time in 45 years, the Rajya Sabha unanimously passed a private member's bill. It envisages creation of a national commission for transgender communities and state level commissions.